With Fish gone, which Atlanta radio station has taken the Christmas mantle?
Jumping on the sleigh once owned by the now-defunct Christian pop station Fish 104.7, secular dance pop station Star 94 has decided to play only Christmas music through Christmas Day.
This is familiar turf for Kevin Avery and Taylor, the new morning team hired by Star this past September. They were morning hosts for the Fish when it did the same thing for 23 years.
“I never thought I’d play Amy Grant again,” mused Avery, who dressed in a Buc-ees Santa onesie Wednesday morning for the occasion and drank eggnog from a “Naughty List Survivor” coffee cup.
In fact, during the first hour of all Christmas on Wednesday, the station played Grant twice, along with classics by Jimmy Durante (“Frosty the Snowman”), Michael Bublé (“Let It Snow”), Donny Hathaway (“This Christmas”) and Johnny Mathis (“Winter Wonderland”).
“I’m going to play artists like TLC and Destiny’s Child,” said Emily Boldon, Star brand manager since April. “It will be mixed in real well.”
Scott decided to wear a Grinch outfit for the occasion. It was much hotter than she expected.
“This is so fun,” she said during a break. “I really think it’s going to lighten people’s spirits after a tough year. People could use the reprieve.”
Star actually did go all Christmas once in 2019, but began much later, on Dec. 11.
It’s unlikely Star would have done this again if Fish hadn’t closed its doors earlier this year after Educational Media Foundation purchased several Fish stations from Salem Media in multiple markets and inserted syndicated programming.
Going Christmas over the years regularly boosted Fish’s ratings in December.
Star, which was a softer pop station until 2020 when it switched to a more dance-oriented sound, is hoping to grab more listeners with the temporary format. The station was ranked 13th overall in October monthly Nielsen ratings behind stations like Q99.7, V-103 and B98.5. It’s 11th place among women 25 to 54.
“We want new people to join the party and fall in love with us,” Avery said.
Taylor asked fans on their Facebook page if this was a good idea, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. (Some were former Fish listeners who don’t particularly like Star’s secular dance and hip-hop leaning format, which includes the likes of Biggie, Tupac and Snoop Dogg.)
Star remains committed to local, live talent and recently hired former 94.9/The Bull and Bert Show host Brian Moote to anchor its afternoon show.
Playing all Christmas tunes for a set period of time is not new in Atlanta.
Long ago, soft pop station Peach 94.9 in 2000 was the first one in Atlanta to play just holiday music between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But Peach changed its name to Lite, then went country in 2006. Fish became the standard Christmas bearer in town. (B98.5, another pop station, did go all Christmas between 2009 and 2011.)
Joy 93.3, a southside Christian pop station that has no local jocks, has gone all Christmas in recent years as well.
Many music radio stations begin sprinkling in Christmas songs after Thanksgiving and amp up the volume until Christmas Day, though most choose not to go full-on Christmas.
SiriusXM began offering a Jimmy Fallon-hosted Christmas station Nov. 4 on Channel 15 and has since incorporated other Noel-themed channels like Holly on Channel 3 (modern Christmas hits), Holiday Traditions on Channel 71 (oldies) and Country Christmas on Channel 79.
The initial Star music mix Nov. 26, 2025:
8:16 a.m.: “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Burl Ives
8:18 a.m.: “Wonderful Christmastime,” Paul McCartney
8:26 a.m.: “Winter Wonderland,” Johnny Mathis
8:28 a.m.: ‘Caroling, Caroling,” Nat King Cole
8:31 a.m.: “This Christmas,” Donny Hathaway
8:34 a.m.: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Amy Grant
8:37 a.m.: “Sleigh Ride,” Andy Williams
8:46 a.m.: “Jingle Bell Rock,” Hall & Oates
8:49 a.m.: “Let it Snow,” Michael Bublé
9:00 a.m.: “Frosty the Snowman” Jimmy Durante
9:03 a.m.: “Jingle Bells,” Frank Sinatra
9:06 a.m.: “Sleigh Ride,” Amy Grant
9:19 a.m.: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” U2
9:22 a.m.: “This Christmas,” Train
9:25 a.m.: “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Gene Autry
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
